String Quartet

April 9, 2000|By R.D. SWETS Special to the Sun-Sentinel

Breaking the strings in her only tennis racket didn't break Paula Coco's determination in helping her Patch Reef Park team win the flight six championship of the year-ending Palm Beach County Senior League tournament at Gleneagles.

"I broke a string in my racket while we were warming up,'' Coco said. "Gleneagles loaned me a racket because I didn't have a spare one of my own. While we lost the first set, the pro restrung my racket, and we won the next two sets 6-4, 6-4. We're a new team this year, but we did pretty well, considering.''

The Palm Beach County Senior Tennis League concluded its 14th season of league play for women March 13 and March 20 with championship matches. The championship series at Gleneagles capped a 10-week regular season that began Jan. 3, followed by two weeks of playoffs.

The league, according to president Al Krauser, is the largest senior women's tennis league in the world with more than 1,300 women on its rosters.

When the league began in 1985, there were only three women's teams: Indian Springs, Boynton Beach and Gleneagles.

The league has grown to 107 women's teams representing 52 communities and clubs, ranging from Boca Raton north to Jupiter.

Teams are ranked by ability in six women's levels and arranged geographically into four regions: Red, White, Blue and Green.

"The league was founded by a group of people who had played in the excellent Broward County Senior Tennis League,'' said Krauser, the league's president. "But the Broward County league was just for men. We thought we could do the same kind of thing here, too, but include women.''

Participating clubs must have at least four Har-Tru courts available for scheduled doubles matches and have enough players to field four doubles teams with enough substitutes to ensure compliance with the maximum 16-player rule. A player must be a member in good standing of the club who has reached her 50th birthday by the last match of the season. Home teams supply the balls and provide drinks for the matches.

"The league offers inter-club competition at a variety of skill levels, starting with those who have had limited competition all the way to top-notch players, some still ranked in Florida and even nationally,'' Krauser said. "The players thrive on the competition.''

Despite busting her strings, Coco's Patch Reef Park team won the flight six championship 11-7 over Riverwalk. Her team also had a slight disadvantage because their home courts are hard courts and the championship matches were held on clay.

"For some players, it's a big difference, but it's a slower game on the soft courts, and we manage,'' Coco said.

She said that the nicest thing about the league was "the ladies on my team, because they're kind, polite, understanding, and fun,'' she added. "We all enjoy tennis in common, but that's about it. We've had some wonderful matches. That makes the experience so pleasant.''

Boca Raton Country Club was the only club with more than one team to reach the finals, but both teams were shut out in the championships. Wellington Tennis Center swept the flight two division, and Platina swept Marilyn Greenberg's flight four team.

"It's OK that we lost,'' Greenberg said. "We would rather have won, but we were a great group. There was no animosity, no arguments. We were like a family. It's more than a game. We are a tight-knit group. Coming in first in our division and making the finals was the frosting on the cake. There's no shame in coming in second among all of the teams in Palm Beach County.

The league, sponsored by Merrill-Lynch, maintains a Web site at ww.crosswinds.net/~palmtennis.